Providing effective seals in containers, such as jars or bottles, as well as crocks, with respect to the closure therefor, has been a problem that has confronted many manufacturers and designers, as well as users of such bottles and jars, for many years. In general, yieldable or compressible gaskets of various kinds, such as rubber, have been utilized and have been connected to stoppers and closures in many such solutions to the sealing problem, such connections usually rendering the sealing member movable with the closure incident to attaching the cap or closure to the bottle or jar, as well as removing the same therefrom. In substantially all such gasket arrangements, at least a portion thereof is compressed between opposing surfaces in the neck or rim of the jar or bottle and the closure or stopper connected thereto, various means being employed where necessary to maintain the gasket compressed between said opposing surfaces. Typical examples of such gasket type sealing means employed in bottles and jars heretofore are found in the following U.S. patents in which the gasket or sealing member is compressed between inner surfaces of the bottles or jars and the opposed surfaces on the stopper or cap:
U.S. Pat. No. 39,327; Reid; July 21, 1863 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 481,363; Macauley; Aug. 23, 1892 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 521,779; Boley; June 26, 1894 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 633,468; McCarty; Sept. 19, 1899 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 754,977; Dopheide; Mar. 22, 1904 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,339,827; White; Jan. 25, 1944 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,441,918; Hoge; May 18, 1948 PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 2,982,433; Chaplin; May 2, 1961
In the following U.S. patents, the sealing gaskets are carried by the cap member and engage the outer surfaces of the necks or rims of jars or similar containers:
Among the above-listed patents, those to Macauley, Boley and McCarty have circumferential grooves in the stoppers which are in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the stoppers and receive the inner portions of the elastic sealing members which initially flare upward and outward for engagement with the inner surfaces of the necks of bottles and jars and are compressed between the same and said stoppers so as to effect an air-tight seal, whereby no flaring of the sealing member occurs when sealed.
In the patent to Reid, a rubber band r flares upward and outward against the correspondingly flared surface on the stopper g so that there is no opportunity for the outer edge of the ruuber band seal to flex independently of the seat in the stopper in view of the fact that it is compressed between opposing surfaces when the stopper is in sealing relationship with the neck of the container.
It is now quite common and popular in kitchens, pantries and the like, to provide jars or cannisters for storing such commodities as sugar, flour, tea, coffee, crackers, cookies, and otherwise. For purposes of readily removing the closures for such jars and cannisters, it is preferable that no appreciable compression of the sealing gasket occur between the neck or rim of the jar or cannister, or other type of container, and the top or closure member, although it is desirable to have an effective sealing arrangement therebetween. One fairly common type of such sealing means used at present is a flat ring of rubber disposed against a horizontal flange in a cover or closure for flat engagement with the terminal end of the neck of the jar or cannister in a manner which primarily prevents physical contact between such flange and terminal end, but due to manufacturing irregularities, there generally is no truly continuous seal afforded by such arrangement. Especially in storing such items as cookies and crackers, it is desirable to have the contents of such jars or cannisters actually sealed against the inlet of ambient atmosphere but without effecting a type of sealing which requires the exertion of any substantial force to remove the cover or lid from the neck of the jar or cannister. Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a sealing means between a cover or lid of a jar or cannister or other similar container which provides actual continuous sealing around the entire perimeter of the neck of the container and the lid or closure, while simultaneously permitting ready removal of said lid or closure without the exercise of any undue force or other unlocking movement, as set forth below.